Adventurers Gate
by Chaos Eternus
Summary: Part II of Adventurer Xander. The team splits their efforts between Sunnydale and Colorado Springs. BTVS / SG-1 / Anarchy Online.
1. Chapter 1

**Adventurer's Gate  
by chaos_eternus **

Note: I do not own nor do I claim ownership of characters and / or concepts from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Anarchy Online or Stargate SG-1

This is a continuation of Adventurer Xander

Org: Sunnydale Scooby's

_Team 1: Stargate Command _

Xander Harris, Adventurer

Daniel Osbourne, Adventurer

Jenny Calendar, Nanotechnician

Willow Rosenburg, Metaphyscist

Buffy Summers, Martial Artist

Tara Maclay, Doctor

( Dawn Summer, Fixer

Joyce Summers, Bureaucrat )

_Team 2: Sunnydale _

Rupert Giles, Bureaucrat

Faith Lehane, Enforcer

Riley Finn, Soldier

Cordelia Chase, Doctor

* * *

**Chapter 1: Bad Days **

Apothis was having a bad day.

Sad bad day started when a roving patrol reported that the Jaffa supposed to be guarding the Stargate were missing. Not dead, just missing. An uncommon occurrence, but certainly an irritation the Jaffa wouldn't live to regret once he got a hold of them.

Just an irritation…

The sounds of staff fire was worrying, and taking his guards with him he had been swift to investigate, only to find an empty clearing, no bodies, just the normal scuffed grass and damaged trees that spoke a fight.

The damage to the trees was interesting, he knew enough to recognise bullet holes when he saw them and that meant the Tau'ri was almost certainly involved, damned unholy creatures that they were… but yet, there weren't enough bullet holes. In fact, there were damned few; it was as if just one gun had been firing and very sparingly at that. He might have thought that others had been firing just very accurately but the patterns of blood splatter indicated melee weapons were used, which wasn't the Tau'ri style at all.

The frozen tree was something of a giveaway too.

It wasn't even as if it was a cold world, in fact, it was hot enough that the smell of sweat from his Jaffa was getting to be quite disgusting and despite not wanting to do anything to make his Jaffa's existence's less miserable, he had been forced to turn up the ships environmental control for _his _sake.

Tempting as it was, he couldn't waste Jaffa just because the smell of their sweat was putting him off after all.

And yet…

A frozen tree.

He could quite honestly say he had never quite seen the like before, a tree that was frozen and almost appeared to have been frozen from the inside out.

The bullets suggested Tau'ri… but the melee weapons and whatever technology that had turned a tree into an ice block indicated otherwise. He had of course doubled the guard then, there was somebody on _his _world now that was a threat after all, but he also ordered them captured. He wanted to know how to turn trees to ice and whether it worked on beings or not.

Naturally, it hadn't worked out that way.

Jaffa still as statues in the forests, surrounded by a strange green glow, Jaffa missing, Jaffa turning their guns on their fellows in the middle of fight.

His Jaffa being attacked by beasts, strange beasts with two heads and a large, canine like body and huge cats with large twin fangs. Strange beasts that despite not having any hands were obviously capable of planning and guile and as such, had to be considered as sentient and as potentially dangerous as any slave.

More dangerous, as they displayed the will to attack their betters.

But their tricks… he wanted to know more of the unknowns so had called upon reinforcements in order to capture them. Reinforcements that fared no better then the Jaffa already present… then the missing Jaffa began to show up, the patrols finding the final dumping places of their bodies.

Then, the attack on his _Ha'tak. _The Ha'shak actually dared attack his ship!

Worse yet, they dared to succeed in whittling down his Jaffa one by one, some stopped dead, strangely unable to move, a familiar green glow surrounding them and unable to move, were avoided by the strange attackers. Many died; a small few turned and fled.

Then, he caught was he thought was a break, the beasts transformed back into slave forms, revealing what he had hoped was their true nature. He had hurried with his most elite Guard to capture then, hopefully before whatever strange mastery they performed to change their forms took hold again, only to find himself rooted, unable to move as he run through the door.

Hadn't stopped him trying to attack with his Zat'n'ktel and hand device, hadn't stopped the strange feeling of sleepiness and slowness that made every move of the hand, every shot he took seem to take an age as he fought, still rooted in place.

Hadn't stopped the blackness overtaking him as the butt of a recognisably Tau'ri 'pistol' collided with his head.

Hadn't' stopped him noticing the strange lack of the familiar and reassuring screaming of his host once he woke up once more.

* * *

O'Neill grinned, not bothering to even try to hide the glint in his eye as he watched the shape in the glass coffer, thrash and squirm in the confined space.

" _Damn _fine work."

"Indeed."

O'Neill nodded, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, "the host going to recover?"

"Doctor Frasier and Miss Maclay both think his mind is too far gone. Understandable really…" Daniel paused, the sighed, "I get the impression they don't expect his body to last much longer either."

That brought a frown to the Colonel's face but it was an understanding, grimly sympathetic frown, "right…"

He glanced at the furious form of Apothis once more, and then musingly asked, "So, do you think they'd let us borrow any of their toys?"

"Perhaps we should ask." Teal'c noted, a glint of anticipation appearing in the corner of his eyes.

"Actually…" Daniel started, grabbing both of their attentions, "I think Sam already has."

O'Neill and Teal'c shared a look and Daniel swiftly found himself alone in the room. Rolling his eyes, he turned to follow, ignoring the soldier who darted into the room as soon as he left. Not noticing the half hidden but all too familiar and reviled face of Colonel Maybourne, NID.


	2. Chapter 2

**Adventurer's Gate  
by chaos_eternus **

Chapter 2: Beginnings….

_Four Months Previously. _

"They do realise we're somewhat overskilled for this don't they?" Buffy quipped, sending a wry glance at the ramrod straight line of soldiers in front of the little knot friends, their BDU's and blackened faces making them very visible against the aging concrete of the surrounding buildings. The soldiers may have been facing forward, their expressions carefully blank and controlled but their eyes told a different story, tracking swiftly over the Scooby's, assessing, collating.

Dismissing.

"Not," Oz commented, earning himself a quizzical glance from Xander.

The laconic Adventurer just shrugged, and added "Different,"

Xander frowned, and found himself considering that for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"We can still kick their arses," Buffy commented, grinning down the line of Soldiers, the glint in her eyes showing exactly how much she was anticipating the opportunity to prove that.

"On a one to one basis, probably," Xander shrugged, "I doubt that would be too difficult… on a team basis it would be more of an issue."

Buffy snorted at this.

"The fundamental assumption of the military is _teamwork _. You can't say that about the Slayer or how we've been operating in Sunnydale." Xander shrugged, not caring that the eyes of all the soldiers in front were now on him, paying very careful attention, "basically, until Halloween we were all support for you as the Slayer, the strongest amongst us. Since Halloween, the team, the org has been acting as support for me and you, this time as the two strongest."

Buffy frowned, "So?"

Xander shrugged, "not really teamwork is it?"

She frowned, "sounds like it too me."

A snort came from the peanut gallery in front, and a full strength Slayer Glare was sent at the offending warrior whose eyes only twinkled in amusement and a little awe at the look.

"Master Sergeant Mills, US Army. Ma'am Teamwork is about trusting everybody to watch every body else's back, not just trusting them to watch your own pretty little arse Ma'am!"

Buffy expression went blank for a moment, and then in a deep corner at the back of her eyes, a little devil danced for just a moment.

"My pretty little arse? How could you see my arse to know its pretty? Can you see around corners?" Buffy continued as the Soldiers eyes bugged out slightly, "are you an alien in disguise with extra human abilities?"

"What… no ma'am!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "have you been following me then? Watching me in the shower perhaps?"

Mills opened his mouth to speak once more but stopped, clued in by the snorts coming from his side, "Ma'am." He said finally and shut up, lesson learnt.

"Great display of teamwork there," Buffy commented after a few moments, airily, "everyone so quick to come to the aide of their beleaguered comrade…"

Jenny laughed, and then shook her head, "perhaps they know better?"

Xander glanced across at Oz and found himself sharing a wry grin with his fellow Adventurer, "is that what they call going above and beyond the call of duty?"

Buffy's face snapped across, "What was that Xander?"

"Nothing Buff,"

"Uh huh," came the disbelieving, amused response.

A chuckle sounded behind them, and Colonel O'Neil walked swiftly out of the reinforced concrete blockhouse onto the aged and somewhat rotten tarmac of the carpark, not even bothering to try to hide his amusement.

"Now that the comedy hour is over," he grinned, then cleared the expression from his face, turning serious, "you might have noticed we have new guests today. New meat for the training program, straight from Sunny California and I hope you've been listening carefully because today's training exercises has two parts."

He turned his glance directly towards the attentive soldiers, glancing just once at each, "today you get to try to defeat an enemy; one whose capabilities are not fully understood and known with minimal intelligence, knowing only that they are coming to 'kill' you and what you have just heard or might have observed in the last ten minutes or so."

"As for you," he turned his attention to the irregulars, "your comments on teamwork have been noted and will be added to future training sessions but for now…

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to teach this bunch of raw, untested recruits to the SGC that however good they might be, however skilled, however well trained, that there is always someone bigger and nastier."

The look the assembled Scooby's sent their 'enemy' could best be described as predatory with the exception of Tara, whose apparent meekness had not gone unnoticed.

The Colonel just grinned as he walked back into the blockhouse, leaving the referees to start the job of sending each group to their 'bases'. He had a distinct feeling that the next few hours were going to be quite entertaining and perhaps more importantly, enlightening.

Now all he needed was for the Sunnydale crew to start showing off, which would be just _perfect _. Of course, he wouldn't have put it past any of them to have realised the true purpose of the exercise but that wasn't to say it wouldn't still work.

* * *

"What was that they were saying about teamwork?" O'Neill commented wryly, his hands itching for a pot of popcorn to dive into as he watched the swift progression of the Scooby's, or at least those members of the Scooby's they could still find, across the map and camera screens.

Hammond nodded; an amused approving glint in his eyes.

"I believe that was what you call misinformation,"

The Colonel shot his friend a look, "Thanks T, I hadn't figured that out for myself."

"I am certain you would have done so eventually," Teal'c hid a slight smile as the Colonel shot him another look, mouth slightly open with surprise and wounded pride.

Perhaps wisely, O'Neill choose to ignore the comment for the moment and carry on, "played our new boys well."

"Agreed," Hammond nodded sharply.

"They made their judgement of their opponents too swiftly and these 'Scooby's' had the intelligence to use that and indeed enhance it." Teal'c noted, "they allowed themselves to think their teamwork was superior and that they had discovered a weakness in this 'Tara'. They were wrong."

"I'm not too sure about that," O'Neill frowned, then shrugged, "about Tara I mean. The teamwork was proven simply by how well they were able to manage a weaker member."

"Almost well enough to hide the fact that she was a weaker member."

"I disagree, General Hammond," Teal'c inclined his head respectfully; "you are being fooled by the surface appearance as were the recruits. Beneath the soft exterior lies the firm resolve and protectiveness of a true Warrior Maiden…"

He paused, allowing a glint to come into his eyes as he continued, unwilling to resist tweaking his friends a little, "Or a Mother."

He laughed inside at the stunned expressions of his friends and forced himself to send a contemplative glance at the monitor that showed the healers movements, enjoying one of the few advantages of being so different from his friends.

The ability to make them truly wonder if he was being serious or just taking them for a ride.

"You know," O'Neill commented finally with a frown, "I may have to be sneakier next time."

He glanced up as General Hammond frowned at him, "they didn't show us a single ability we didn't already know they had."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow approvingly, "Indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

**Adventurer's Gate  
by chaos_eternus  
**

**Chapter 3: Tok'ra**

"That was not smart," Xander commented, his expression a mixture of amusement and malicious glee as he watched Buffy stalk a suddenly pensive looking Anise.

""Not smart?" O'Neill replied back, his eyes dancing, "little bit of an understatement don't you think?"

"Well," he shrugged, "she did basically say to Buffy's face that she was dressed like a skank whilst wearing an outfit I would expect to see briefly attached to a pole-dancer."

The Colonel had to choke back a laugh at that and a muffled chuckle from the direction of the senior Carter made it clear he hadn't been the only one to hear that comment.

Not that Xander had made any effort to lower his voice.

"What is a pole-dancer?"

The somewhat high-pitched question from Anise broke O'Neill's barriers down and for a moment he found himself laughing aloud before he brought it back under control. Not that he didn't think it was funny and he didn't give much of a damn about Anise's feelings but Hammond wouldn't appreciate it and that was reason enough to hide his amusement.

"Still think we have nothing to offer you Anise?" he asked, raising his voice.

"I still do not believe it is possible that primitives like yourselves managed to remove Apothis from his host. If we, with the superior knowledge and intellect of the Tok'ra have not been able to manage such a feat in thousands of years of trying, how could you?"

"Superior intellect hah!" Buffy snorted, "at least we can make implants that don't look like flotation devices."

The room feel deathly silent for a moment, then "implants?"

Buffy glanced down pointedly and Anise frowned, then her face went white, fury rose in her eyes and she sharply raised her hand, revealing a smaller version of the hand device.

One second later she found herself with her back against the floor, arm still out raised, no hand device and no memory whatsoever of how she had ended up there.

Though Buffy's foot resting on her stomach might have been somewhat of a clue, it certainly was to General Carter, who eyebrows narrowed, found himself reassessing the strange civilians O'Neill had introduced him too.

"I see these new friends of yours…" Carter paused and O'Neill didn't even try to hide his grin as he turned his gaze from the shaken Anise to the other Tok'ra.

Carter shrugged, "well, they're skilled, deadly, mouthy and unwilling to take any bullshit. Did you get cloned or something Colonel?"

"Hey!" Buffy interrupted, "enough with the crazy talk. Me no clone, don't have any man-bits thank you…"

"Man-bits?" the Colonel choked out, tears of mirth hiding in the corners of his eyes. Even Anise had to choke back a laugh, a task that became somewhat easier when a suddenly blushing Buffy was none to careful as she removed her foot from the woman's stomach, giving her what to a male would have been an extremely painful kick. As she found out it was not too pleasant for a female either.

"Compliment," Oz noted, a smile hinted at in the curve of his lips. He caught the General turned Tok'ra's eyes and gave a slight nod, more of acknowledgement then actual thanks.

Xander frowned as he considered this for a moment, and then shook his head, puzzled. Buffy caught the expression, "Carter respects and trusts O'Neill, comparing us to him is therefore a compliment."

He nodded, accepting the response as O'Neill and Carter exchanged shrugs.

"So," O'Neill shook his head, "crazy people, what say we get back to the subject at hand?"

"Which subject would that be?" Buffy replied, sending a glare at Anise as she cautiously pulled herself up from the floor.

"The removal of Apothis from his host," Carter replied swiftly, then his head dipped.

"Indeed," Selmac noted, "If you have managed such a task you have managed to best the Tok'ra and many more besides. It would certainly help us to maintain the alliance and prove its worth to some of the doubters within the Council."

"Well," Xander shrugged, "it's been done. The Doc's who did it are currently tucked up nice and quiet till the morning with Guards at the door to ensure they aren't disturbed."

"You're a little early," O'Neill noted.

Selmac shrugged, "a report such as yours was not something to be ignored. If we have to wait, then we have to wait. I don't suppose a meal would be out of the question?"

Shrugging, the Colonel gestured towards the door.

* * *

"You know," O'Neill noted mock idly as he chewed on a chicken wing, "the brass is asking me to… suggest you send some examples of your nanotech to one of their research labs again."

"Really?" Xander replied dryly, "Can't imagine why that would be. Tell me, by any chance would the research lab in question happen to be linked to the NID?"

The Colonel snorted, "Is now given the source of the requests."

"Wait," Selmac asked sharply, "the technology you are talking about, which you used to remove Apothis, this is not Earth technology?"

Xander shook his head in reply, "yes and no. It was developed on Earth but has never been under the control of the US military."

The Tok'ra narrowed its eyes, the answer sounded like complete truth and total evasion at the same time. Curious…

"Perhaps you would care to elaborate?"

He considered this, then simply, "No,"

Eyebrows raised, Selmac turned her gaze to O'Neill who just shrugged in reply. Leaning back in her chair she considered this, her mind definitely not on the meal in front of her.

"Do you think they'll ever learn?" Xander asked, turning his attention back to the Colonel.

"No," he replied, not even needing to consider it, "you've got a power and technology they don't and that is not allowed."

Xander shrugged, "after their first attempt, you would have thought they would have got the message."

"Worse in your case," O'Neill noted, "You're an American citizen, that gives them a degree of _legal _control over you, even if it isn't much."

"Also an advantage should we have to deal with them again,"

"Hopefully it won't come to that," O'Neill replied.

"NID?" it was General Carter who was asking now, an interested and somewhat malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Oh yes," Xander replied, grinning.

* * *

Hiding from an Adventurer wasn't easy, having some of the highest natural perceptions in the Anarchy Online game and a very decent set of buffs for the skill as well, if an adventurer set out to find you then you would be found. This just took longer if it was a fully buffed agent you were trying to find.

The idiots currently registering on Xanders perceptions weren't fully buffed Agents however, they were normal if skilled humans and as such, a minimal threat. In fact, whilst he had noticed them and had been following them for almost twenty minutes as they broke their way into the compound and headed towards the building which contained the Sunnydale Org, they had yet to notice him.

This meant they never knew exactly how they went from one second being in a stealthy advance on target to being in a guard room, stripped off all their weapons and possessions.

This also meant that, when Maybourne arrived at their base of operations five hours later to find out why he hadn't gotten a response from the team, he never noticed the small tracker being placed on his back.

He did notice however the 'Utter Bastard' sign that was placed on his back, but not until three hours and two full coffee shops later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Adventurer's Gate  
by chaos_eternus**

** Chapter 4: Training**

_Training: 3½ Months Previously_

"You think they're coming?" O'Neill commented idly, his gaze not leaving the monitors in front of him.

Carter snorted, "Given the challenge of breaking into one of the most secure bases in the world? I think they'll try."

"Indeed," Teal'c noted; a slight note of almost amused worry in his voice. The Colonel barely caught it.

"Teal'c?"

"They will get further then most."

O'Neill considered this for a moment, then nodded acceptance of the vote of confidence from the Jaffa, "still won't beat our record."

"Not exactly a fair comparison," Daniel noted grimacing, "we have had years to learn the layout of the base and its security holes; they've had four visits and a partial map to work from."

"Right," Carter smiled, gesturing across the monitors, "we got extra cameras both visible and hidden in all of the possible entry routes as well as infrared and motion sensors plus a double guard. I think we should be able to spot them quickly."

"I don't think spotting them is likely to be the issue, _stopping _them however…" Daniel noted making Carter grimace, acknowledging the point.

"Agreed," O'Neill added reluctantly, "I mean, reflect shields?"

"Nasty and inventive," came the approving response from the Jaffa.

"Still, we know what their stealth form and the two combat forms look like and if they use those it will be one hell…"

O'Neill's voice trailed off, his eyes wide as he gazed at one of the monitors. A monitor which just happened to show the main mess hall, where twenty-three of the thirty odd people sitting down for their meals had been abruptly turned into birds.

"Talk about giving somebody the bird," he finally responded, non-plussed.

"Indeed," Teal'c noted, "they are inside the base."

O'Neill shot an alarmed look at his friend, then back at the monitor then cursed, grabbing for his radio, "they're inside the base! Last location the mess hall."

Grabbing his intar, O'Neill began to run out of the room, trusting that his team would be behind him, but found himself diving for cover with the relaxes only combat can provide as the guard at the door abruptly vanished, replaced by a small, brightly coloured bird.

"They're here!"

"Must have split up," Carter noted, "they can't have gotten from the mess hall to here that fast, even with their boasts."

"I can not see them," Teal'c noted.

O'Neill grimaced, he couldn't see them either.

_Behind them on the monitors, totally unnoticed, the hatch at the top of the missile tube the Stargate was stored in slide aside for a few moments then dropped back into place. _

After a few moments, he grimaced, and carefully, cautiously darted out of cover towards the door.

"Must have moved on," Daniel noted as O'Neill reached the door unscathed.

"They must have been on the other side of the door and feared discovery," Teal'c added.

The Colonel grimaced, "nice delaying tactic. These guys are smart. All right, let's assume then that the mess hall is a distraction, options?"

"Their objective is to render this base unusable,"

"Right Teal'c," Carter noted, "the main control room, the backup, the power distribution nodes, the base self-destruct…"

"All the usual suspects," O'Neill replied sarcastically.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for the moment and then Daniel shrugged, "it boils down then to which member of the org is running the op,"

Smirking at the geeks use of military terminology, Jack nodded at him to continue.

"Either Buffy or Xander is likely to lead; Buffy would most likely favour a direct approach and would probably go for a direct assault,"

"Probably on the command centre," the Jaffa pointed out, "remove the head, the body withers."

"If Xander is in charge…" Daniel paused, glancing at the Guard, who was now flying around the room, apparently quite delighted, "which he likely is, then we should expect a more devious approach."

O'Neill shook his head, mildly amused at the antics of the guard, but agreement in his voice, replied, "Most likely power then."

He glanced around the room once and seeing no dissent, tapped his radio on, ordering more guards to the power plant.

_Another monitor flicked; a second, then a third, a fourth, all in the region of the gateroom. The flickering of the fifth and final monitor caught the eye of a guard who had not been turned, but seeing no other anomalies, he dismissed it. _

Gesturing his orders silently at his team behind him, O'Neill led the charge out of the guard room. They didn't get more then halfway down the corridor before the call came that the Stargate had vanished.

The Colonels response to this was quite eloquent.

* * *

Hammond shook his head disbelievingly but also slightly amused, "it does count as a win."

"Yes!" Xander replied, "We rule, we rule oh yeah!"

"Can the song and dance routine Xand," Buffy laughed, "gloating isn't good for you, results in people trying to shoot you down low."

Grinning, he just sat back down into this seat once more.

"General," O'Neill protested, but Hammond was having none of it.

"The Stargate is the commands reason to be, without it we are crippled and ineffective and the mission objective was to either 'destroy' the command or render us ineffective. They succeeded."

"Still want to know how," the Colonel replied, sending a grumpy look at Xander who just grinned back, unrepentantly.

"Indeed," Teal'c added, sending a curious glance across the table.

"Buffy, you want to take this one?"

"Well," she replied, "it started with a comment by Colonel Carter, regarding how nano-programs are set to cancel after a certain amount of time to stop copying errors creeping in as the nanites replace themselves."

Carter groaned, knowing where this was going.

"After all, if they can be programmed to cancel after a certain amount of time, why can't they also be programmed to take effect after a certain amount of time?"

. _"You know, they are never going to forgive us for this," Buffy noted with a grin as Xander fired off another modified Sparrow-flight, this one hitting Siler. _

_He paused for a moment, but like everyone else they had hit so far, shrugged off the strange sensation of being hit with a nano-program and continued on his way into the base. _

_If he had a nano-controller belt on, he would have been informed that he had just had a nano-program dumped into his memory, but none of the Stargate Command personnel had belts yet. It did however make the nano a tight fit, every body having a certain limit on the amount of nanites it could take without assistance. The nano had failed on a number of personnel already because they had a slightly lower limit then most. _

_Mentally checking the clock on his own belt, Xander nodded, "programs set to activate in two hours. Give it another thirty then we head out." _

"Wait," O'Neill leaned forward, alarmed, "you set up all the birds before they entered the base?"

"Yes," Oz replied, a tight smile on his face.

Speechless, O'Neill gazed at the adventurer for a moment before snapping his head back around to Xander, "weren't you worried about the nanites getting out of control?"

"No," he replied, "notum based nano-programs do not go out of control. Its part of the reason why notum is so valuable as a component of nano-technology."

"It distracted you didn't it?" Willow asked grinning, "Then it did its job."

"Who came up with the idea?" Carter asked.

"Dawnie," Buffy replied proudly, "Fixer you know."

"A teenage Fixer," the Colonel groaned, "now there's a recipe for disaster…"

Glaring at Jenny for her choked out laugh of agreement, Buffy continued.

_"Ready," _

_"Okay," Xander replied, grimacing with pain as he cast 'Pronouncement of greatness, other' once more, turning Buffy into a leet. A polymorph the Stargate command personnel hadn't seen yet and one which provided a major boast to concealment skills. _

_For the next part of the mission, that would be critical. Unfortunately the nano was slow, draining and one only Xander had the skill to use and that only just. _

_Ten minutes later and with the whole team converted, they crept across to the massive hatchway. _

_Then waited. _

_Three minutes later, the first silent alarm they had set triggered on the belts, letting them know that base personnel should now be starting to turn into birds. That left them on the second timer and five minutes later that triggered. _

_The changes should have been noticed by know, should be quite distracting. _

_That in mind, Jenny stepped forward and swiftly disabled the locks on the hatch, allowing the team to slip inside. Trap Disarm wasn't really her speciality, but she had more skill in that area then the rest of the team. _

_With that, they slowly slipped into the base, dropping down right above the Stargate. _

"You hadn't even entered the base?" O'Neill blurted out, earning an annoyed look from the Slayer, "we were running around like headless chickens and you hadn't even entered the base yet?"

Hammond's expression at this point could best be described as strangled, like a man who really wants to laugh but at the same time knows it is really serious.

"Yes," Buffy replied sharply, "that's what a distraction is for, or didn't they teach you that at the academy?"

Her only response was a glare as she prepared to take up the story once more, but then a slight rumble filled the room and she just smirked, gesturing towards the briefing room windows.

A startled cry of 'Unscheduled off-world activation' filled the room and Xander shared a smirk with Buffy as confused and curious Hammond, O'Neill and Carter walked across to the window.

Curious, but for a different reason, Oz walked across just in time to see SG-11 walk out of a gate that wasn't there.

It took three seconds for O'Neill to catch on.

"Bastards!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Adventurer's Gate  
by chaos_eternus **

**Chapter 5: Meanwhile, in Sunnydale…**

He was trying not to pant. It shouldn't really be that difficult, he was a vampire after all and the dead didn't need to breathe. Problem was, his head might know that but at the moment, his head didn't have the casting vote.

His body 'knew' he had been running hard, 'knew' that he should have burned up a lot of oxygen therefore needed to breathe hard to replace it. Instinct was beating his mind. Right now that could get him killed, but however much he tried to tell his lungs to stop it, they just wouldn't.

This was a real pity, because right now he had a slayer on his case and not just any slayer, but the Slayer Faith. Hell, either of the _two _ current slayers would be bad, both were rumoured to have strange magic's at their disposal but Faith…

Faith was rumoured to be a half-breed, half-human, half giant.

Utter nonsense of course, the giants had been driven into hiding years ago and most had left this plane of existence as soon as they realized that guns made them easy to kill. No there was no way she could be half-giant.

Next time, he would remember to ask the most important question of all; why do the other demons think she's half-giant?

He felt a shiver down the back of his spine, and dived forward, the gravestone behind him shattering under the force of the solid iron rebar that had just been swung into it.

Gulping heavily, more then mildly shocked, he dived to the side, just narrowly missing being hit by the backswing. Taking a chance, he dived forwards, sliding between the legs of the slayer before swiftly getting to his feet and _running. _

The shriek of furious surprise from behind him just made him run faster. Grinning slightly at the possibility that he might just be able to get away, he ran towards a crypt he knew had a hidden access to the sewers.

He could hear the slayer closing behind him, but if he could make it to the crypt, he should be able to block the door just long enough for him to get into the sewers and away.

He would only need about thirty seconds…

He dived into the open door of the crypt then stopped abruptly, gulping as a large barrel appeared in front of his eyes. He traced it upwards with his eyes, gazing into the amused but unwelcoming eyes at the other end.

The soldier, the fucking dark _soldier. _

He closed his eyes, trying to leap underneath the gun as complete coldness appeared in the eyes in front of him.

* * *

"Dark Soldier?" Riley mused as Faith stomped into the room, a brilliant haze appearing around her for just a moment as she cancelled her essence nano, dropping back to her normal, less giant like size, "I think I like that."

Grunting, she glared at the pile of ashes for a moment, "that rat! He called me a bloody half-breed! Half giant of all the…"

Noting the expression on Faiths face, Riley hid a smile as he followed the ranting Slayer from the crypt. He had no idea at all why anyone would think she was half-giant. None whatsoever.

And look, wasn't that an avian pig over there?

Still, now all he had to do was to get Faith to go clothes shopping and forget to cancel the nanos. He would have to make sure he had a discrete camera handy though, after all, her face when she realized what she had done should be a picture. Doubly so if he could get her into the outsize shop first….

* * *

Cordelia was amused.

She was also a little surprised, "Now _that _ I didn't expect to see."

"Well," Giles replied, unrepentant, "it is a bureaucrat assistant. I know in the game they mostly end up being used to fight but that's due to the limitations of the game not the robots themselves."

"Chill out," she replied shaking her head, "I know your pet can kick arse and take names, even cover your rear whenever you get concussed which is every time you get into a fight…"

Frowning, Giles glanced up from his book to glare at her, "not quite every time…"

"No," came the swift rejoinder, "last time you survived the fight only to get concussed on the way home."

Smiling as the Englishman turned back to his book, Cordelia mentally noted that one up in the win column, "but either way, it's some serious work avoidance. Giles, I'm proud of you!"

That got a reaction, "it's not work avoidance at all!"

"You teach your pet robot the Dewey decimal system and you don't call that work avoidance?" she smirked, "didn't want to have to restack all the shelves yourself?"

"I wouldn't have had to if somebody hadn't thrown a vampire right into the back of the selves," Giles replied quietly, not looking up from his book, "through the windows, the hallway…"

"That bastard was peeking at me in the shower," Cordelia raged, infuriated.

"Which is reason to kill it," came the reply, "not spend twenty-odd minutes using its body to tear the house down."

"Yes, because Buffy has never done exactly the same thing," she noted sarcastically.

"Not indoors no," Giles replied, "outdoors she quite frequently 'plays' as it were. Indoors, she does at least _try _ to be quick."

"Still," Cordelia sulked, "he should not have been peeking."

"Perhaps not," he hid a quick grin, "but I checked where he had been hiding. Quite a cosy nest he had there."

She froze then quietly stated, "I'm going to raise him from the grave just so I can _kill _ his arse again."

"Good luck with that, alas I'm afraid your research might have to wait however until the library is reorganised. I'm afraid there's still a bit of a mess…"

"Alright," she threw up her arms, "you win, I'll help clear up, enough hints already."

Shrugging, Giles glanced up from his book, "I'm afraid I must ask you not to do that. You after all can not be taught the Dewey decimal system…"

Cordelia choked with rage and hiding a grin, Giles turned back to his book, mentally chalked up point set and match.


End file.
